And here is a perfect example why geographical knowledge is indispensable: you want to use it to hike, that or cede your critical thinking skills to people or machines who with think FOR you; I want to use it to make informed decision, such as who and what to vote for and support. I find it amusing that people like you who cheerfully celebrate your geographical ignorance can’t even identify what nations we get most of our oil from (for starters) and why that is critical to know.

One source of such misguided policy was the notion that if reading and math were emphasized and students became strong in those subjects, they would be able to “pick up” social studies and science with less instructional time. Elementary teachers were in some cases ordered (in others just highly pressured) to cut time spent on social studies and science in order to increase time spent on math and language arts (reading, writing, grammar, and spelling). This strategy has failed miserably and put many of our children at a terrible disadvantage as citizens of a democratic republic.

I am wary of the things that teachers and administrators at my child’s school tell me–they are frequently either ill-informed or deliberately false. Particularly when it comes to laying the blame for anything outside the school. I don’t find this to be rational way of operating. I find it to be disrespectful (of the parents that they are handing this stuff to) and unethical. BTW–as a parent, you might want to look into the things that they are supposed to be involving parents in–like school improvement. You might want to lay your argument in terms of the coming requirements for science testing–or looking further down the line to what your child will be required to know (don’t know what your state has in place for high school graduation requirements–but some actually have tests).

I’d say that a basic understanding in the “Big Four” subjects – Math, Science, Social Studies, and English Language Arts – are essential for every U.S. citizen.

Why are the “Big Four” important? Why should every U.S. citizen know these things? How is it useful in the modern world? I’ll give you two reasons: “elections” and “juries”.

Politicans can (and do) lie to people who don’t know anything – because they won’t know they’ve been lied to. Why not raise your taxes to build fences around the edge of the flat world? For all you know, we need them! And that politican should be re-elected for having such a great idea. And why not trust the FDA head he appointed if he tells you that mercury is a good, healthy alternative to butter on your waffles? After all, you have no idea what mercury even is, but you were told it was good for you! Furthermore, lawyers can (and do) lie to people who don’t know any better on juries all the time. How many ridiculous lawsuits have come to fruition because of a jury’s lack of understanding of basic civics or science? How many legit lawsuits got dismissed for the same reasons? How many innocent people have gone to jail because the jury didn’t understand the pesudo-science behind the prosecution lawyer’s circumstantial evidence? How many guilty people have been acquitted for similar reasons? There are so many examples of both pheonmenon that I’m surprised someone hasn’t written a book about it already.

Uneducated people are easy to manipulate. That’s why democratic republics only work correctly when its citizens are educated – and the more educated, the better. It’s also why dictators don’t want their people to be properly educated – nothing makes people angry faster than realizing they’ve been lied to and ripped off by their leaders.

*****

@TracyW: Replace “in depth” with “basic” if you wish… but even then the U.S. K-12 education system isn’t even providing the basic education U.S. citizens need to understand the world they live in – so that they don’t make bad decisions when voting or serving on a jury.

*****

P.S. – Regarding the “Big Four”… Personally, Math should cover everything from Arithmetic to at least PreCal. Science should cover the basics in Biology, Earth Science & Astronomy, Chemistry and Physics. Social Studies should cover U.S. History, World History, U.S. Government and basic Economics. English Language Arts should cover reading well (including classic American, British, and World literature translated into English) and writing well (creative writing, technical writing).

I also think The Arts (music, theater, painting, etc.) and Atheletics (learning to exercise and stay in shape, the lessons sports teaches about working hard towards a goal and working together, etc.) are incredibly important – though compared to the “Big Four” are luxuries. Luxuries that should be implemented at every school possible once the “Big Four” are satisfied, though.

I’ll bet that they’re also teaching other things.

That said, did they understand that they were saying that they’re incapable of teaching more than two subjects?

I think its reasonable to argue that NCLB standards are incomplete, even if some previous standard was incomplete as well. So if you want to say the we had ECLB before, I’d agree. And since I think NCLB is particularly incomplete in the area of science and social studies, I think that was relevant to the topic. I included my own personal story to illustrate how standards are important and get attention.

I’ve discussed making the social studies and science curriculum more rigorous at my son’s elementary school with the teachers, principal, and district superintendent. They have all told me that they cannot focus on those subjects because they need to meet the standards for Mathematics and Language arts proscribed by NCLB. So I took that to mean that tested subjects get the necessary time and focus, and everything else is considered optional. I’m not surprised by this, because I’d call that rational behavior. And since I think NCLB has missed the mark on having complete standards I prefer to call it Every Child Left Behind. ( I probably over-spoke in my earlier post as there are other significant reasons to rename NCLB as ECLB ).

Before the merits of the rural districts’ suit can be weighed, seems to me we have to know how much money the districts are getting now, and what they’re spending it on.

As far as knowledge of science goes, I consider a basic knowledge about how things work to be crucial — but then, I have always been interested in how and why things work.

On the other hand, I worked in public relations for a large gas and electric utility for several years, and I never ceased to be amazed at the absolute ignorance of basic elements of both science and economics displayed by most the news media folk I dealt with. With two or three specific exceptions, such understanding ranged from abysmal to non-existent — this from college-educated folk, many of them graduates of prestigious universities.

Bill